8. Snog – Beyond the Valley of the ProlesA very outspoken political album. Too outspoken for my tastes. The lyrics here find a good point to make, but then drive right past it and turn it into a grotesque commentary that is so far removed from reality that it serves no further purpose anymore. Stuff like this perhaps only ever worked in punk, where the vocals and music are so hard and rough that you can’t mistake it as anything else than a rant of someone who has completely lost all control. But this is not punk and the singer’s voice, which could be great in another context, is too precise to pull something similar off. Sorry, Spiritualized, but I don’t like this album much.

7. Seefeel – QuiqueApparently this album felt like really something new when it came out, but now this style has been done so much that it is hard to gauge it’s originality. What’s more, for most of the time I feel it is lacking. It never gets that special vibe. It seems like it wants to transcend, but just can’t pull it off. Until, out of nowhere and late on the album, Charlotte’s Mouth lands and suddenly transfixed me. Directly followed by the equally stunning Through You. If the whole album was like these two tracks it would be a masterpiece, but even a second listen didn’t reveal that much of interest on the other songs.

6. Portishead – PortisheadThe second album that everybody seems to like, but nobody quite puts on the same pedestal as Dummy and Third. In fact, I never heard this one before this week for some reason. Not even one song I think. I like the Portishead sound a lot, but somehow I felt something was missing here. As if these songs were not as rich, not as deep as the ones on the other two LP’s. Listening to this one for a second time right after Dummy only strengthened this feeling. Was the band already going through the motions on their second effort? I don’t know. It is certainly an album that is worth a listen in its own right, but I think I see a reason to play it instead of Dummy.

5. The Darkness – Permission to LandLook, I don’t want to make a case for Permission to Land as a sort of masterpiece. I’m not even voting for it. Still, I think that The Darkness’ debut deserves more. This album is fun. That on itself is not remarkable, but have you noticed how little fun metal has become. Say what you will about hair metal, but at least they were good for a laugh. Now metal is all doom and gloom, with more angst than a Radiohead fan convention. Once it also contained band that wanted to entertain and it is nice to have a band in the 2000’s that seem to want to get back to that moment. And for the most part they pull it off. There are a lot of songs here that rock and contain a lot of good spirit. These guys are camp and I think they know it. They don’t want to be anything else. So I Believe in a Thing Called Love, Get Your Hands Off My Woman, Black Shuck and Stuck in a Rut become something of a silly celebration. It doesn’t have enough ideas for a complete album, but if Permission to Land was an EP containing only the six best songs I might have stood up for it as a goofy masterpiece.

4. Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)Speaking of goofy music, what weird stuff is this? I never heard a full Captain Beefheart album before (I don’t think I even heard a minute of his Trout Mask Replica yet), but I did here a song here or there. He has a reputation for being perhaps the most difficult and original artist out there. I don’t know. This is wacky sure, but also oddly catchy and even accessible. Nobody could make a case for this as having emotional depth (something I would immediately associate with an artist of Beefheart’s standing). This is basically party music for a gathering of weirdos. Which is cause for celebration of course. Tropical Hot Dog Night should be an anthem for all Ibiza parties for people who never quite make it to Ibiza.

3. The Coral – Magic & Medicine I’ve come down a little hard on some acts that try to be a too much like musicians of old. This time I just can’t. I don’t know what The Coral do to make this exercise in repeating the sixties work, but this is just a very good album that is immune to any accusations I could make against it. I don’t feel like making accusations. This is an album I wish had come out in the sixties as then it would probably have the stature of at least an Odessey & Oracle. Now it is an already somewhat forgotten, third-tier indie favourite. Can we at least rescue Don’t Think You’re the First, a truly brilliant song?

2. Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5 (Moscow Philharmonic) Classical music is always a weird fit for polls like this, but it is also nice to hear it come along. I wasn’t actually familiar with these compositions, which hold more than a hint of Beethoven. A welcome hint that is. This is music full of passion, grandeur and sometimes unexpected subtlety.

1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – The Good SonNot even classical music can keep a good Cave down for me. This is one of his best, maybe even my favourite album of his. It is the one that best highlights his amazing vocal capabilities. I love how his dark voice is employed here for a wide varied of effects. There are still raging and dark tales, but there is love and sadness too. This voice makes The Shipping Song into probably the gravest sounding love song ever; and all the more romantic because of it! The Bad Seeds are on their most subtle here too and the compositions are exquisite. [Needless to say, I’m really sad that this is losing to a lesser Portishead, especially because I feel that Cave outdoes Portishead on noirish romanticism this time around.]

Rob wrote:The Bad Seeds are on their most subtle here too and the compositions are exquisite. [Needless to say, I’m really sad that this is losing to a lesser Portishead, especially because I feel that Cave outdoes Portishead on noirish romanticism this time around.]